Between their resumes, talent and tournament seeds, they were all supposed to get this far.

And tonight the fun begins in earnest for Burlington, Burr and Burton, Rice and Rutland when the Division I high school boys basketball semifinals tip off under the bright lights at Patrick Gymnasium.

The top-seeded Green Knights, champions for two years running, face the No. 4 Raiders at 6 p.m. in the doubleheader's first act. The second-seeded Seahorses draw the No. 3 Bulldogs at 8 p.m.

The deciding factor as to which two squads will emerge with a berth in Saturday's state final, coaches for all four squads agree, is defense.

Let up for an instant and it could be the lapse that tips the scales in a back-and-forth battle. Likewise, rash decisions with the ball could easily turn into a deficit beyond repair.

"If you look at the four teams that are left they're all really, really good defensively," said Mike Wood, whose Rutland team faced each semifinalist twice. "You have to work really hard to get good looks against them."

Wood's Raiders are the only blemish for the Green Knights since last year's championship game.

Their third encounter this season will be the seventh year in a row the two have met in the playoffs — the previous six have been Rice wins.

"They're there every year. We're all aware of the Rice-Rutland history in the past 25 years or 35 years," Wood said. "There's a lot of teams that would trade places with us to play Rice in the finals or the semifinals every year — if you don't beat them in the semifinals you'll have to beat them in the finals."

“We have one team on our radar and that's Rutland. Forget about three-peat, forget about all that stuff.”

Paul Pecor, Rice coach

However, should Rice find a way past Rutland, it would put the history-rich program within reach of a new feat: Its first three-peat.

Not that the Green Knights are thinking that far in the future.

"It's one year at a time. With this group, we're focused in on what we need to do to go on," Rice coach Paul Pecor said. "We have one team on our radar and that's Rutland. Forget about three-peat, forget about all that stuff."

Senior-laden BBA returns to Burlington fresh off avenging last year's Final Four defeat to Mount Mansfield. The Bulldogs' task will be ousting the hard-nosed Seahorses, whose only only losses this year came against Rice (by a combined 12 points).

Burlington's Josh Hale (25) drives to the hoop past Rice's Kendrick Gray (5) during the boys basketball game between the Burlington Sea Horses and the Rice Green Knights at Rice Memorial High School on Tuesday night February 17, 2015 in South Burlington, Vermont. (BRIAN JENKINS, for the Free Press)

"Some of these kids have been playing together for a few years. I think they know what they bring to the table," BHS coach Matt Johnson said. "We don't have the kid with the potential to score 30 on any given night but we've had six kids, I think, be the high scorer on any given night. I think they recognize that."

A look at the matchups:

No. 1 Rice (21-1) vs. No. 4 Rutland (19-3)

•Regular-season meetings: The two teams split away victories. The Raiders handed Rice its only defeat, 66-58, on Jan. 6. Returning the favor, the Green Knights won 63-50 a week later in Rutland.

•Last playoff meeting: Rice won 70-36 in last year's quarterfinals.

•Final Four history: Rice is playing its record 51st D-I semifinal and ninth in 10 seasons. The South Burlington school has been victorious in seven in a row. ... Rutland is back in Patrick Gym for the fifth time since 2009, seeking its first crown since 1967.

•Outlook: What a stage for a rubber match between two powers that are plenty familiar with each other. The Green Knights' athleticism, leading duo of Shungu and Gray, and 3-point snipers like Lopez make it easy to pile up points in a hurry. Going eight or nine players deep pretty smoothly, the Raiders force opponents to pick their poison: Plante and Cassarino stretch defenses beyond the arc, the dynamic Brown can slash to the hoop and, on top of its potent inside-out game, Rutland can hit on the fastbreak, too.

No. 2 Burlington (20-2) vs. No. 3 Burr and Burton (19-3)

Burr and Burton's Joey Shehadi (10) leaps for a lay up during the boys semi final basketball game between Mount Mansfield and Burr and Burton at Patrick Gym on Tuesday night March 4, 2014 in Burlington, Vermont. (BRIAN JENKINS, for the Free Press)(Photo: Brian Jenkins / BRIAN JENKINS, for the Free Press)

•Regular-season meetings: None.

•Last playoff meeting: Burlington won 51-34 in the 2011 playdowns.

•Final Four history: The Seahorses are in the D-I semis for the 48th time and the 10th time in 13 years. ... BBA is in the semifinals for the fourth year in a row (the first two in Division II) under coach Dave Shehadi.

•Outlook: If there's one benefit to Burlington's rigorous playoff path it was seeing — and surviving — No. 15 St. Johnsbury's Tristen Ross for the third time. The Hilltopper senior is one of the state's top scorers and similar to Shehadi, a sniper on the perimeter who's also adept at changing speeds off the dribble and converting inside 15 feet. BBA, meanwhile, held MMU to a season-low 38 points in its quarterfinal victory and must contend with a balanced, perimeter-oriented Seahorses offense that relies on ball movement.

Contact Austin Danforth at 651-4851 or edanforth@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/eadanforth

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Rice's Kendrick Gray (5) drives to the hoop past Spaulding's Josh Flory (23) during the boys basketball game between Spaulding and Rice at Rice Memorial High School on Friday night.
BRIAN JENKINS/For the Free Press

Rice's Kendrick Gray dunks the ball on an alley-oop from Ben Shungu (not pictured) during the boys basketball game between Spaulding and Rice at Rice Memorial High School on Friday night.
BRIAN JENKINS/For the Free Press